How long do the police have to try to talk a hostage taker into giving up peacefully before they go ahead and shoot him? I would think that two full days is long enough in the estimation of any rational person.  Gina Kim and Chelsea Phua report for the Sacramento Bee:

After 55 1/2 hours, it finally was over.

The stalemate between authorities and a mentally unstable and wanted man holed up for more than two days in a Sacramento apartment with a 16-month-old boy as his hostage ended Friday evening with the man dead and the boy safe.

"This is, in fact, by any measure a very, very successful outcome," said Sheriff John McGinness who said he gave the green light for deputies to use deadly force against Anthony Alvarez, 26, if the boy could be safely rescued.